Imprisoned Mobarak breaks leg

The former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak broke his leg at a Cairo military hospital on Thursday, where he is serving a three-year prison sentence on corruption charges, a security official has said, The Guardian reported.

The official said the 86-year-old had slipped in the bathroom and broken the upper part of his thigh bone, adding that he would need surgery.

Mubarak, who was toppled in 2011 amid massive protests against his nearly three-decade rule, is facing a retrial for his role in the killing of hundreds of protesters during the uprising.

Mubarak was found guilty in June 2012 of failing to stop the killing of more than 900 protesters during the 18-day revolt and sentenced to life imprisonment, but his conviction was overturned in January 2013. Prosecutors appealed against that decision, and a retrial began in April 2013.

His release was ordered in August last year pending his corruption trial, but he was kept at a military hospital in a suburb south of Cairo. Given his poor health, Mubarak is likely to serve his sentence in the hospital.

Last month Mubarak was convicted on charges of embezzling millions of dollars of funds allocated for the renovation of presidential palaces. Mubarak's two sons, the one-time heir apparent Gamal and wealthy businessman Alaa, were also convicted and sentenced to four years in prison each in the same case.